Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays
How David Foster Wallace explains the world — and other remarkable feats of literary insight and daring.
The City of Falling Angels
Berendt doesn't always get to the bottom of Venice, but his exploration is vivid, and sometimes charmed.
Last Night
James Salter's stories are brilliantly composed and shockingly sad.
Slow Man
Paul Rayment, the slow man, is paralyzed literally and figuratively. The world around him gives the order.
In the Miso Soup
Kenji does Tokyo sex tours — until he meets American Frank. Ryu Murakami saves the best for last.
Stella Descending
Norwegian Linn Ullmann packs her story of detection and remorse with a whole lotta Ibsen.
Bush at War; Plan of Attack
Woodward's first two post-9/11 books examine how the U.S. decided to attack Afghanistan, and the (applauded) Bush consensus.
Changed Man
Francine Prose approaches pre-9/11 America with breezy, comic gusto. But there's a lot that isn't funny.
Truth and Beauty
Ann Patchett's recounts her friendship with the doomed writer Lucy Grealy.
Kafka on the Shore
Murakami's "Boy Named Crow" grows tedious after he sees ghost number 20.
The Twelve Caesars
Who says the caesars had no sex appeal? And what about Claudius, who weighed in on flatulence?